Oren nodded eagerly.

Dad seemed pleased that Oren was so keen. “I did most of the restoration myself,” he said as he opened the driver’s door. “I’m not a mechanic, but I’ve learned a lot about this girl.”

I opened the passenger door and waved for Oren to slide in. Since he was so interested, he could sit next to Dad in the middle of the big bench seat. Dad talked about the car all the way to the mall.

I was glad I didn’t have to pretend to be interested. I looked out the window, just happy that we were going out and doing something fun. I didn’t even care what movie Oren picked.

I mean, I like quilling, but working on Oren’s memorial picture that morning had felt…heavy. It was turning out really well—maybe the best project I’d ever done—but there was a kind of sadness hanging over it. I was glad to take a break from it. You can only think about sad things so much before you get really down. I learned that last year.

Dad pulled right up to the theater doors and stopped the car. “Have fun, you two. Oh, right, today’s on me,” he said, smiling at Oren as he handed me the money. “Text me when the movie’s over and I’ll come and get you.”

Once we got inside, we stared up at the big board. “What do you want to see?” I asked Oren. There were several starting at around the same time.

He shrugged.

“I guess the superhero one is fine,” I said. It wasn’t my first choice, but, like I said, I was just happy to be there.

I bought the tickets and we lined up for snacks. I did a little math in my head. “If we share a big popcorn, we can each get our own drink.” Oren agreed. Good thing, because he picked orange soda, which I think is the worst.

We took our snacks to theater six and chose seats near the back. He sat on the right of me so he could use his left hand for the popcorn. That way he wouldn’t get butter all over his cast. Because we got lots of butter.

Thinking about his cast reminded me that I still hadn’t figured out what to write on it.

Whatever it was, I wanted it to be meaningful. But everything I tried in my head sounded goofy. Even when the trailers ended, I was still thinking about it. So far? Nothing.

Sheesh, he’d be getting that cast taken off before I’d figured it out.

“That was so good!” I said as the lights came on nearly two hours later. I hadn’t expected to like the movie so much, but it had been exciting. We were on the edges of our seats the whole time. I could tell Oren had liked it too.

I texted Dad as we made our way out to the lobby. He replied that he was on his way. And that’s when I heard her voice.